What are the UN World Restoration Flagships?

In this guide to the UN World Restoration Flagships, we’ll be covering the following topics:

• What is ecosystem restoration and why is it so important?
• How do we restore our planet?
• What is the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration?
• What are the UN World Restoration Flagships?

What is ecosystem restoration and why is it so important?

Ecosystem restoration refers to the deliberate effort to revive and rehabilitate ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed. It can take many different forms, but some common examples include reforestation, wetland restoration and species reintroduction.

We know that protecting and enhancing these ecosystems is vital in mitigating the effects of climate change, and it is also hugely important for promoting biodiversity and supporting local communities.

How do we restore our planet?

Across the globe, ecosystems of all types need help recovering from the destruction caused by humans. But among the devastation being wrought on our planet, there are sparks of hope. They can be found all over the world, and many come from individuals, communities, and organisations who are taking action to protect and restore threatened and degraded ecosystems. 

There are, of course, individual actions we each can take to help protect the environment. But when we work together, we can bring about large-scale changes that give us a chance of keeping our planet healthy for future generations. Through collective action, we are more capable of rectifying harm and protecting habitats and organisms with whom we share a home. 

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

In 2021, the United Nations (UN) began a 10-year global movement to help restore the relationship between humans and nature by expanding healthy ecosystems and halting their degradation. This project is called the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UNDER), and it is being jointly coordinated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The UNDER is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve the global restoration goal of restoring 1 billion hectares of degraded land – an area about the size of China. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change, and stop the collapse of biodiversity.

UN World Restoration Flagships

To maximise the success of this decade’s efforts, the UN highlights initiatives each year that are shining examples of successful ecosystem restoration. These initiatives are named UN World Restoration Flagships. The Flagships exemplify excellent large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration, embodying the 10 Restoration Principles of the UNDER.

In addition to celebrating the achievements of these flagship initiatives, highlighting the work of successful and impactful projects enables the sharing of knowledge and information with other organisations to help elevate their work, too. In the fight to protect our planet, it’s vital we work together, and the UN World Restoration Flagships help to identify some of the people who are most capable of leading the way towards a better future for nature and people alike.

This is a prime example of the power of collective action. Individually, we may feel helpless to effect any positive change for our environment, but together there’s no limit to our power to do good.  There’s a lot of work to do, but humanity has a tendency to thrive under pressure —  sometimes we just need to know we’re not working alone.

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